Baha Mar to appeal Bahamas ruling on bankruptcy jurisdiction

The Baha Mar Group will be appealing a high court ruling in The Bahamas that restricts jurisdiction over the resort developer's bankruptcy.

Late last month, Justice Ian Winder ruled that a US bankruptcy filing by the developer of a US$3.5-billion mega-resort project would not be recognised in The Bahamas.

Baha Mar will contest that decision in the Bahamas Court of Appeal. The company has not said when the appeal would be filed.

The Perry Christie government had strongly objected to the Chapter 11 filing in Delaware, saying it meant that a US court would effectively decide major economic matters in The Bahamas. The Bahamas Supreme Court ruling in the government's favour meant that Baha Mar would not get a new loan to pay for daily operations or receive US bankruptcy protection for its assets in The Bahamas.

The Baha Mar group said it was disappointed in the ruling, and is "even more disappointed in the way the government has responded to our Chapter 11 filing over the past several weeks".

The Bahamas has petitioned the Supreme Court to wind up Baha Mar and appoint a provisional liquidator to oversee the restructuring and opening of the delayed resort if an out-of-court agreement can't be negotiated.

The Baha Mar Group said in a statement that it was "gratified that the Supreme Court of The Bahamas has granted Baha Mar leave to appeal the court's decision to reject the recognition of the US court in Delaware's orders with respect to Baha Mar's Chapter 11 process". It gave no further details.